An 1885 Robert Harris painting, A Meeting of the School Trustees, depicted in the 1992 Heritage Minute episode "Rural Teacher", on the benefits of pedagogy
The Minutes were first introduced on March 31, 1991, as part of a one-off history quiz show hosted by Wayne Rostad.[5] Originally distributed to schools,[2] they appeared frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before feature films, and were later available online and on DVD.[4] "Radio minutes" have also been made.[6] From 1991 to 1995, 50 episodes aired. In 2012, new Minutes were produced in the lead-up to Canada's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation) in 2017.
In 2009, "The Historica Foundation of Canada" merged with "The Dominion Institute" to become "The Historica-Dominion Institute", a national charitable organization.[8] In September 2013, the organization changed its name to "Historica Canada".[9] While the foundations have not paid networks to air Minutes, in the early years they have paid to have them run in cinema theatres across the country.[10] The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series"; each vignette thus counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content requirements.[11][12]
The first sets of Heritage Minutes were released in five segments between 1991 and 2000. A set of eight new Heritage Minutes, covering military moments in Canadian history, were released in 2005.[13] In 2012, two new Minutes were created on the War of 1812 in anticipation of the war's bicentenary,[14] and in 2014 two more Minutes were released on John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier that had been filmed in and around Toronto in September 2013.[12] To honour the centenary of the start of World War I two Minutes were released: one on the Winnipeg Falcons in 2014 and one on Canadian Nursing Sisters in early 2015.[15][16] In September 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Terry Fox's run to conquer cancer, Historica released a "Minute" on Fox's inspirational run.[17]
February 2016 saw the release of a "Minute" on Viola Desmond, a trailblazing black female entrepreneur from Halifax who spoke out against racial discrimination in Nova Scotia.[18] On June 21, the 20th anniversary of National Aboriginal Day, Historica Canada released two new Minutes. The first tells the story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools.[19] The second, Naskumituwin, highlights the making of Treaty 9 from the perspective of historical witness George Spence, an 18-year-old Cree hunter from Albany, James Bay.[20] On October 19, Historica Canada released another Heritage Minute that shows a story about an Inuit artist named Kenojuak Ashevak. It is also the first Heritage minute that is narrated on not just its official languages (English and French) but also a third language, where this Heritage Minute is narrated in Inuktitut.[21]
Of the over 100 "Heritage Minutes" available online, one on Canadian peacekeeping in Cyprus was pulled from broadcast shortly after its 1991 premiere, and was only posted on Historica Canada YouTube channel in 2016, well being omitted from the listing on "Historica Canada" official website.[23] According to The Canadian Encyclopedia published by Historica Canada:[7]
A Minute about Canadian peacekeepers in Cyprus produced in 1991 was criticized by Turkey’s ambassador to Canada on the grounds that it depicted Turkish citizens in a poor light. The producers responded that the Minute explored Canada’s role in peacekeeping and that no slight to Turkey was intended. The Minute was soon pulled because of historically inaccurate costume details that were discovered after the Minute was released. As well, the Turkish ambassador to Ottawa complained that the Minute treated his country unfairly. However, the producers have said this was not a factor in the decision to pull it from circulation.
In 2020, three Heritage Minutes were deleted from Historica's website and Youtube channel - Louis Riel (1991), Grey Owl (1999), and Sir John A. Macdonald (2014). Historica told CTV News in 2024 that the removal of the Louis Riel Heritage Minute was due to a lack of consultation with the Métis community at the time of production, and concerns about presenting the Heritage Minute in classrooms, due to it graphically showing the hanging of the Metis Leader. However, the Manitoba Metis Federation stated that Historica had not consulted with them about removing the Heritage Minute and expressed support for the violent reality of the depiction.[24]
Teacher Kate Henderson sways school trustees to embrace new methods, and the event is represented in the famous painting by Robert Harris, A Meeting of the School Trustees (see image at top).[50]
Louis Riel
1991
The achievements and execution of political and spiritual leader Louis Riel are featured.[51]
The rehearsal for the first performance of O Canada.[53]
Grey Owl
1999
Englishman Archie Belaney (played by Pierce Brosnan) rises to prominence as a notable author and lecturer after he took on the First Nations identity called Grey Owl.[54]
Mona Parsons, a partisan World War II Allied agent in the Netherlands escapes execution and later imprisonment by the Nazis and meets her future husband who confirms her nationality to Canadian forces liberating the nation.[76][13]
Hockey player Maurice Richard, portrayed by actor Roy Dupuis, scores five goals and three assists for eight points in a single game.[88] Dupuis reprises the role for the 2005 Maurice Richard biographical film The Rocket.
Richard Pierpoint was a formerly enslaved Black Loyalist who, at age 68, enlisted black men to fight in the War of 1812. Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men fought in a number of battles in the Niagara region and were instrumental to the war effort.[98]
Queenston Heights
2013
At the Battle of Queenston Heights (October 13, 1812) Mohawk Chief John Norton and 80 Grand River warriors surprised hundreds of advancing American soldiers and skirmished with them for hours until reinforcements arrived and the battle was won.[99]
Maple Leaf Gardens
2005
Considered one of the "cathedrals" of ice hockey, the construction and history of the Maple Leaf Gardens is featured.[100]
The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior ice hockey team that fought through discrimination and stayed together even through the First World War, on their way to winning the gold medal for Canada at the 1920 Olympics. Narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos and an appearance by actor Jared Keeso. This was the first Heritage Minute segment to extend longer than one minute.[15]
Nursing Sisters
2015
Nursing Sisters commemorates the service and sacrifice of women on the front lines of the First World War through the retelling of a real event from May 1918. It is the story of two of the nearly 3000 trained nurses who served overseas. Narrated by Molly Parker and starring Siobhan Williams.[16]
Terry Fox
2015
Terry Fox inspires the nation with his Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research.[103]
Viola Desmond
2016
The story of Viola Desmond, an entrepreneur who challenged segregation in Nova Scotia in the 1940s.[104]
Chanie Wenjack
2016
The story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools.[19] Unlike other Heritage Minutes that were narrated by actors, Wenjack's was narrated by his sister, Pearl.[105]
Naskumituwin (Treaty)
2016
The making of Treaty 9 from the perspective of historical witness George Spence, an 18-year-old Cree hunter from Albany, James Bay.[20]
The story of the Edmonton Grads, a powerhouse women's basketball team. World Champions for 17 years, the Grads dominated regionally, nationally, and internationally for 25 years beginning in 1915. Dr. James Naismith called them "the finest team to ever step out onto a floor".[107][108]
"Boat People" Refugees
2017
A family escapes persecution in Vietnam, traveling by boat to a Malaysian refugee camp before finding a new home in Montreal (1980).[109]
Kensington Market
2017
In the first animated Heritage Minute new arrivals to Canada transform a single store as it passes from generation to generation and culture to culture.[110]
The story of Jim Egan, who actively writes letters and articles in magazines and newspapers to advocate for equal rights and criticize the misunderstood and inaccurate perception of lesbian and gay people from 1949 to 1964. His case in 1995 became a milestone for LGBT rights in Canada.[112]
Vancouver Asahi
2019
From 1914 to 1941, the Vancouver Asahi were one of the city's most dominant amateur baseball teams, winning multiple league titles in Vancouver and along the Northwest Coast, until the team was scattered as they were interned during World War II.[113] The short was narrated by Kaye Kaminishi, the sole surviving member of the team, and writer Joy Kogawa.[114] In addition to English and French versions of the minute, a Japanese version was also released.[115]
D-Day
2019
On June 6, 1944, Canadian Forces landed on Juno Beach. D-Day, as this day would become known, was the largest amphibious invasion of all time, led to the liberation of France, and marked the beginning of the end of the Second World War. This Heritage Minute tells the story of 47-year-old Major Archie MacNaughton, a First World War veteran and leader of the North Shore New Brunswick Regiment's "A"Company. The story is a tribute to the Canadian soldiers who fought on D-Day – ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Peter Mansbridge provided end narration for the minute.
Acadian Deportation
2019
The Acadians are descendants of early French settlers who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1604 and built a distinct culture and society over generations. Their peaceful existence was uprooted in 1755 when over 10,000 Acadians were ripped from their homeland to ensure British rule in North America
Liberation of the Netherlands
2020
Between 1944 and 1945, Canadian armed forces were on their way to liberate the Netherlands from Nazi Germany, who was occupying the country. The story is told through the eyes of Canadian Lieutenant Wilf Gildersleeve of the Seaforth Highlanders and of Marguerite Blaisse, a Dutch citizen, who met and later after the war, moved to Vancouver to live together. The end narration was provided by Peter Mansbridge. Another version of the minute was also released with Dutch subtitles.[116][117]
Elsie MacGill
2020
Elsie MacGill was the world's first female aeronautical engineer and Canada's first practicing woman engineer. She oversaw Canada's production of Hawker Hurricane aircraft at the Canadian Car & Foundry factory during the Second World War. Hawker Hurricanes were one of the main fighters flown by Canadian and Allied airmen in the Battle of Britain. This Heritage Minute follows Elsie MacGill in her role as chief engineer overseeing the production of these instrumental aircraft. The minute was narrated by physicist and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Donna Strickland.[118][119]
Oscar Peterson
2021
Oscar Peterson was a jazz pianist who grew up in the Montreal neighbourhood of Little Burgundy. In his over 60-year career, he released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received numerous other awards and honours.[120]
Chloe Cooley, an enslaved Black woman in Upper Canada in 1793, engaged in acts of resistance against estate owner Adam Vrooman. As rumours of abolition circulated, Vrooman and his men kidnapped Chloe on March 14, 1793, and violently forced her onto a boat to the United States, where Vrooman hoped to profit from selling Chloe. Witnesses, including the free man Peter Martin, later testified to Chloe's resistance in the face of her violent removal, leading to Canada's first legislation limiting slavery. Despite this, slavery in Canada was not abolished until 1834.[122]
Tom Longboat
2022
Onondaga long-distance runner Tom Longboat (whose name Gagwe꞉gih means "everything") was one of the most celebrated athletes of the early 20th century and has inspired generations of athletes. After running away from the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford, Ontario, in 1900, he continued running his whole life. Despite the racism he faced as an Indigenous athlete, Tom won many races, including his record-breaking win at the 1907 Boston Marathon, making him a household name. In the Heritage Minute, while Longboat is a dispatch carrier during the First World War, an officer he is escorting struggles to keep up and complains, “Who do you think I am? Tom Longboat?”— Tom replies, “No, Sir… I am” and continues to run. Tom Longboat was portrayed by Joshua Odjick as an adult, Sladen Peltier as young Tom Longboat, and the voice of Tom Longboat was performed by Gary Farmer.[123]
Bishan Kaur describes her arrival in Canada in 1927 to join her husband, lumber entrepreneur Mayo Singh, in the mill town of Paldi, in an era of uncertainty for Asian Canadians. In the face of anti-Asian sentiments and policies, the Mayo Lumber Company was established by Sikh lumbermen in 1917 and employed South Asian, Chinese, Japanese, and white Canadian workers. The town became known as a welcoming and inclusive home to people of all backgrounds, and mill workers and their families called Paldi home until the 1980s. Today, the historic site of the Paldi gurdwara remains a symbol of this inclusive, multicultural community.[125][126]
Mary "Bonnie" Baker
2023
In 1952, celebrity panelists on game show What's My Line? attempt to guess the extraordinary profession of guest Mary “Bonnie” Baker, with panelist Dorothy Kilgallen correctly guessing Baker is a professional baseball player. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Baker was one of 68 Canadian players in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and debuted as a catcher for the South Bend Blue Sox in 1943, where she remained until 1949. The minute is narrated by Baker's daughter, Maureen "Chick" Baker.[127]
Norman Kwong
2024
Norman Kwong (portrayed by Patrick Kwok-Choon), born in Calgary in 1929, he began his professional football career one year after the end of the Chinese Exclusion Act, when Chinese Canadians were granted the right to vote in federal elections, and became the first CFL player of Chinese heritage. Following his football career and winning four Grey Cups, he became a co-owner of the Calgary Flames hockey team, and he would become lieutenant-governor of Alberta in 2005. The minute was narrated by actor Andrew Phung.[128][129]
In 2007, the Internet comedy group LoadingReadyRun celebrated Canada Day by telling the story of the Heritage Minutes in the format of a Heritage Minute.[135]
In the second episode of season 1 of Canada's Drag Race, the main challenge is based on parodying Heritage Minutes as "Her-itage Moments"; the parodied ads were the one on Nellie McClung and the suffragist movement in Manitoba, and the one about Dr. Wilder Penfield's advances in neuroscience research.[136]
Louis Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity as the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence.
The North-West Rebellion, also known as the North-West Resistance, was an armed resistance movement by the Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan, North-West Territories, against the Canadian government. Many Métis felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people. Fighting broke out in late March, and the conflict ended in June. About 91 people were killed in the fighting that occurred that spring before the conflict ended with the capture of Batoche in May 1885.
Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained by his having been named in honour of King George III.
The Red River Rebellion, also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Colony, in the early stages of establishing today's Canadian province of Manitoba. It had earlier been a territory called Rupert's Land and been under control of the Hudson's Bay Company before it was sold.
William Henry Jackson, also known as Honoré Jackson or Jaxon, was secretary to Louis Riel during the North-West Rebellion in Canada in 1885. He was married to Aimée, a former teacher in Chicago.
The Manitoba Act, 1870 is an act of the Parliament of Canada, and part of the Constitution of Canada, that provided for the admission of Manitoba as the fifth province of Canada.
The Métis are an Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces. They have a shared history and culture, deriving from specific mixed European and Indigenous ancestry, which became distinct through ethnogenesis by the mid-18th century, during the early years of the North American fur trade.
While a variety of theories have been postulated for the name of Canada, its origin is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning 'village' or 'settlement'. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona ; by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada.
The Battle of Duck Lake was an infantry skirmish 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) outside Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, between North-West Mounted Police forces of the Government of Canada, and the Métis militia of Louis Riel's newly established Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. The skirmish lasted approximately 30 minutes, after which Superintendent Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier of the NWMP, his forces having endured fierce fire with twelve killed and eleven wounded, called for a general retreat. The battle is considered the initial engagement of the North-West Rebellion. Although Louis Riel proved to be victorious at Duck Lake, the general agreement among historians is that the battle was strategically a disappointment to his cause.
The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Rebellion, which pitted the Canadian authorities against a force of First Nations and Métis people. Fought from May 9 to 12, 1885, at the ad hoc Provisional Government of Saskatchewan capital of Batoche, the greater numbers and superior firepower of General Frederick Middleton's force eventually overwhelmed the Métis fighters.
Louis Riel is a historical biography in comics by Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, published as a book in 2003 after serialization in 1999–2003. The story deals with Métis rebel leader Louis Riel's antagonistic relationship with the newly established Canadian government. It begins shortly before the 1869 Red River Rebellion, and ends with Riel's 1885 hanging for high treason. The book explores Riel's possible schizophrenia—he believed God had named him Prophet of the New World, destined to lead the Métis people to freedom.
Thomas Eugene Flanagan is an American-born Canadian author, conservative political activist, and former political science professor at the University of Calgary. He also served as an advisor to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper until 2004.
Kenojuak Ashevak,, was a Canadian Inuk artist. She is celebrated as a leading figure of modern Inuit art and one of Canada's preeminent artists and cultural icons. Part of a pioneering generation of Arctic creators, her career spanned more than five decades. She made graphic art, drawings and prints in stone cut, lithography and etching, beloved by the public, museums and collectors alike.
The Battle of Fort Pitt was part of a Cree uprising coinciding with the Métis revolt that started the North-West Rebellion in 1885. Cree warriors began attacking Canadian settlements on April 2. On April 15, they captured Fort Pitt from a detachment of North-West Mounted Police.
Historica Canada is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the country's history and citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach more than 28 million Canadians annually.
Post-Confederation Canada (1867–1914) is history of Canada from the formation of the Dominion to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Canada had a population of 3.5 million, residing in the large expanse from Cape Breton to just beyond the Great Lakes, usually within a hundred miles or so of the Canada–United States border. One in three Canadians was French, and about 100,000 were aboriginal. It was a rural country composed of small farms. With a population of 115,000, Montreal was the largest city, followed by Toronto and Quebec at about 60,000. Pigs roamed the muddy streets of Ottawa, the small new national capital.
George Richard Donald Goulet is a Canadian Métis author, historian, Métis Scholar, activist, retired lawyer, and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Marie Therese “Terry” Goulet is a Canadian historian who has written and spoken extensively on the subject of the Canadian aboriginal group the Métis. With her husband George who is Métis, Goulet has been an advocate for Métis identity in Canada and for the exoneration of early Canadian and Métis politician Louis Riel. In January 2018, Goulet was honored as an “exemplary citizen” by the Canadian government.
Over the course of centuries, many Indigenous Canadians have played a critical role in shaping the history of Canada. From art and music, to law and government, to sports and war; Indigenous customs and culture have had a strong influences on defining Canadian culture. The Indspire Awards are the annual awards presented by Indspire, formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The awards were first established in 1993 in conjunction with the United Nations declaring the 1990s "International Decade of the World's Indigenous peoples". June 21 is Canada's National Aboriginal Day, in recognition of the cultural contributions made by Canada's indigenous population. The day was first celebrated in 1996 following Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc's proclamation.
Due to Louis Riel's ubiquity as one of the most studied figures in Canadian history, the historiography of Louis Riel naturally leads to several interpretations and understandings of actions and reactions depending on the scholar in question. One of the reasons the rebellion or resistance paradigm is so deeply ingrained in the Canadian historical tradition is because Riel has been studied so much. Still this article's challenge is to discover Riel as a human being and to "appreciate the pathos and tragedy" of his life and of Métis history, not to "create, debunk, or venerate" an icon.
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